Guests and Elections

It has been said that having guests in one's home is better than accumulating riches. If that is the case then we have become extremely wealthy in the last three months. As I sit here at the end of a very long and full summer of ministry and fellowship, I am beginning to believe this saying. During this summer we have hosted no less than 50 people, all but 4 spending at least one night and many of them several. Of these guests we hosted 24 Americans, 26 Ivorians and one guy from France... that is not counting the 200 plus French troops that live on this campus with us. Overall most of our guests were a joy to have and we are richer for their visits. After nearly 3 years on this campus with few visitors, this summer seems like its the turn about on that score. Most of our guests were young the youngest being nearly a year old and the oldest… let's say he was older than me!

Some of these arrived and left on public transport and some arrived in private cars. Some we had to pickup either in Abidjan or in Bamako, Mali. During their different stays they all had to eat and some of them even took baths! Some came to work with orphans in a local orphanage and some were here for a break. Some came for work related issues and some just for kicks. Perhaps the greatest thing about hosting all of these people was the pleasure of getting to see them connect with each other. Some of our guests came knowing better French than we do and others without any other language than English to get them through the day. As a result we had many interesting and at times confusing conversations around the table as we tried to integrate everyone.

It was a challenge to deal with young American kids who have, as we can testify, very different values from their Ivorian counterparts. It was a challenge to integrate young Ivorians with young Americans and to have them work together. At times it was too much for us as we will admit but then again to be challenged is a great thing. Life without challenges is like a plant growing without a dry spell. It would never learn to sink its roots deep to find good sources without the challenge of the dry season. So it is we have come through a challenging summer with a ton of guests, the last two of which we just put on their flight back to Oregon last night. Did we have fun? You bet! Did it tire us out? Sure! Will we do it again? Absolutely! “Bring- em-on!” is what I say.

At the same time we have been approached by several different groups who have expressed an interest in renting part or all of the ICA campus in Bouaké. It is good news as we are hearing more and more of troop withdrawal from the French command in Abidjan. Officially they have said that following the November 30^th elections that they will begin withdrawal. Of course we all wonder about these elections. Will they happen or not? It would seem that the official word is “Yes!” Of course much of that is political rhetoric with which we are quite familiar. So goes that saga of the now 6 year war in Côte d'Ivoire which has really been a relatively peaceful war if such is possible. The latest street talk is that elections will probably not happen until February 2009, which is still a crap shoot if you ask me. National elections seem to be the new “fix everybody's problem” solution that the International Community is trying to sell in a world where we know that elections will fix nothing. How do you go through life knowing that?

Back in Bouaké... On the 2nd Attempt!

Finally last night at about 17h30 I rolled into Bouaké where the roads were uncharacteristically free. Having spent too many days on the road it was good to get back to what we find familiar albeit frustrating at times. It seems that the rebels have accepted whatever it was that their chiefs have told them and they are once again going to let traffic flow after a fashion, normally. When we saw them parading about the other night it looked like it was war again. Just to rectify my last story, at about 22h30 the rebels opened the blockade creating a blockade of another sort as all the vehicles on either side of the barriers tried to get through at once creating a 2 hour traffic jamb for probably 2 kilometers.

I was not there but back in Korhogo where I rested easy and was able to help assemble the new antenna for the Radio Sinaï. They had received the hardware from HCJB earlier in the week but had no idea how to assemble and install it. We worked through the morning and by 15h00 we had most of it together and straightened out. Now they simply need to adjust the wave lengths and then I get to climb to the top again and lower the old antenna and mount the new. Sounds simple but it has to be done while hanging off a 42 meter tower which I cannot sit inside. After working on some larger towers, I am beginning to hate this thing! Oh well, at least we think that we can be sure that it is not going to fall over any time soon. And hopefully Radio Sinaï can be back on the air in full force.

Rod Ragsdale

please reply to: rags@worldventure.net

cell: (225) 05.29.23.46 (Côte d'Ivoire)

Skype: rod.ragsdale

Blog : ragsdalerag.blogspot.com

Blocked at Bouaké

Today I find myself once again in Korhogo after trying in vain last night to enter Bouaké. It would seem that the rebels in Bouaké are once again dissatisfied with the promised “payments” for laying down their arms and they have sealed off the city to all vehicles coming from either the north or the south. 

Yesterday morning, after about two weeks on the road I was looking forward to returning home to my own bed and seeing the guys I had left in charge of things on the Bouaké campus. Angelika and our short term girls had left from Ferké direct to Bouaké with one vehicle and I took the second to pick- up our trailer and a few other items in Korhogo where I had to see several people before heading for Bouaké

By about 12h00 noon I was on the road. When I arrived in Katiola (50 km north of Bouaké) I received a message from Angelika saying that the roads in Bouaké were all blocked. They had made it to a friend's place on the northwest side of town and were waiting it out. Not being sure if I should proceed or not I stopped to greet the pastor Coulibaly Amegnan in Katiola. We talked for about two hours while we waited to hear from Angelika. She finally called to let me know that the roads were open and that the way was clear.

With this assurance I asked for the road and set off for Bouaké. Arriving in at the outskirts of Bouaké I realize that there was a problem. Having lived in this precarious country for several years it seems that many people have learned to not drive into what looks like a confused situation. I stopped well outside of town along with others to find out what the story was. Of course the stories were many and varied. Some said that the road was blocked because the rebels were demanding 5 million CFA (about $12.250) per soldier for laying down their arms and returning to civilian life. Now that is a lot of cash and I am sure that no one ever promised that much but when you have guns you can say anything you want!

As for us, that is to say, me along with hundreds of other travelers, we were blocked waiting for things to clear. After waiting about two hours the rumor began circulating that we might be there for the night. Incidentally, what had been promised was 255.000 CFA ($625) which is apparently unsatisfactory for a soldier with a gun.

With that in mind and the fact that I was carrying too much cash, I thought that either I had better try to sneak in through one of the back roads or return to Korhogo where I had work to do on the radio tower anyway. After one aborted attempt to avoid a rebel blockade I decided it smarter to return to Korhogo before it got too late. According to those within the city limits life was going normally. It was only at the sensitive roads that the traffic was stopped.

So it was that last night at about 20h00 I rolled back into Korhogo having knocked on our door at Bouaké without gaining entrance. According to the news reports this morning the road is still blocked, the rebels permitting passage to only those trucks with foreign plates. And so the saga continues as this country tries to find its way out of a war that has continued for too long and borne far too few benefits for its people.

Why I Think the War is Over

By now I would suspect that most of you reading this note have heard of my most recent bout with typhoid. It would seem that the rumors are accurate and that I am once again trying to get a clear bill of health. The last time I had this filthy disease was right at the beginning of the war in Côte d'Ivoire after our evacuation from Korhogo. Now that I am down again might be a sign that the war is officially over! Of course it could also be a sign that I drank some dirty water or ingested some foul food. Chances are it is the later. Even so, we are hoping that the war is over as well!

Since we last sat down and wrote one of these things we have been to Benin and back where we helped with the installation of new guy wires on the 80 meter medium wave tower for Trans-World Radio. On that trip we spent a considerable amount of time on the side of the road with a broken down vehicle and in the end a fair wad of cash as well. Even so the trip was a success and we returned to Bouaké in good form.

However, because of the length of that trip due to vehicle problems we took the decision to pursue the purchase of another vehicle. This we did in April of this year. We purchased a Toyota Land Cruiser through an organization in Gibraltar who sells exclusively to missions and other NGO's working in Africa. Our vehicle was shipped directly from the factory in Japan and ready for pick-up the 18th of April. Yes, we traveled to Gibraltar and picked up our car in order to drive in back south to Côte d'Ivoire. We took about 3 weeks traveling the length of Morocco to Nouakchott, Mauritania and on to Dakar, Senegal. After a few days in Dakar we traveled on to Bamako, Mali and then south to Côte d'Ivoire. It was a very interesting trip full of surprises and not at all boring. We were glad to be home however, having seen more desert that we care to see for a while.

By the time we got home we had about 3 weeks to get ready for the first of a host of Short-Term teams. As well as ST's I had to finish with the course work at Bethel Bible Institute. I had about 6 weeks of work to squeeze into about 3 weeks of classes. It was a challenge and may have contributed to my current laid-up state.

As for the ST teams, our first installment came in the form of 5 individuals from Madras Conservative Baptist Church out of Oregon. Dana St. John led the team and did a superb job. We split the team during their stay so as profit the most from their passage. The three guys and I along with Nicodème, one of our local carpenters and his crew traveled to Tiongofolokaha and had the thrill of putting on the new church roof. We were able to finish the task in 3 days before returning to Bouaké and Abidjan for their return flight to the US.

During their stay we also had a visit from Jonathan Finley, a WorldVenture worker in Paris, France and two pastors from his home state of California. Jonathan was interested in exploring ways in which we could use multi- cultural teams coming from France and the US in our leadership training programs here in Côte d'Ivoire. It was a lot of fun being together and seeing the interaction. Needless to say though, our time spent with all these folks together took a lot of coordination and extra time, but highly worth the time.

By the time the Californians and the Madras team left we were just a little tired. It didn't matter though; I had another team coming in from Bamako on the 4th and so I high-tailed it back up to Korhogo to be there when they arrived. This team was from Houghton College and they were coming to help us roof the church in Kanoroba, south and west for Korhogo about 100 km. On the morning of the 5th with trailers loaded and team in tow, we traveled to Kanoroba. Upon arriving we began to set up for the work ahead. Once again, Nicodème and his crew were essential to the completion of the Kanoroba church roof. By Saturday night we had the roof on and that Sunday we had a fantastic time of praise in the newly roofed chapel. By Sunday evening we were back in Korhogo and by Wednesday the Houghton team was back in Bamako ready to return to the US.

I was able to get in a few more hours of classes with my students that week before retuning to Bouaké. On Friday Angelika and I traveled back to Abidjan again to pickup another ST'er from Atlanta, Georgia. This one came as a surprise and we were pleased that she stepped up even though she had wanted to be in Guinea. Courtney is a nursing student and is here for 4 weeks trying to see what nursing in this part of the world looks like. After retuning from Abidjan with Courtney on Saturday, I decided to travel the next day to Korhogo to finish the last of my classes. I was feeling a bit off as I took off Sunday morning. I made the trip without difficulty but arrived very tired. It was there that the end began.

The Sounds of the Bats

The comforting sounds of the fruit bats (Eidolon helvum) squabbling as they sort out their sleeping quarters for the day is a familiar sound to anyone living in this part of the world. All night these bats have been foraging throughout the country side looking for ripe bananas, mangoes, papayas, guavas, baobab flowers and numerous other sweet meats and flowers from which they gain the needed energy for another day of hanging upside-down in the trees that populate the Bouaké campus. Because of the disappearance of many of the forests around Bouaké these creatures find the campus more attractive than ever before.

They begin to pick out their roosting sites at about 4h30 and continue until 6h00 or so when the sun begins to show its light. This provides for quite the chorus as they all try to get into the right spot for the day where they will be well hidden and with the right companions. In the process males call out to make sure that they attract the right females with whom they will do so specialized “squabbling” in an effort to make sure that the trees remain full of fruit bats.

This noise that we old timers find so comforting and familiar is one which creates quite the stir for any newcomer. It has been described as similar to that of a small hammer hitting the side of a steel hulled sunken ship. Having never hit the side of a sunken steel hulled ship while under water, this is difficult to verify that this is actually the case although it does provide for an interesting image. If you think about it in these terms however, you could get the impression that you are a fish at 5h00 in the morning until you hear the muezzin call for prayer!

Fruit bats may be seen by the thousands in the old kapok tree groves on the Plateau in the city of Abidjan. At dusk in Abidjan if one looks to the sky these bats can be seen flying off out to the fields where they will feed all night before returning to the center of the largest city in Côte d'Ivoire to spend the day squabbling over roosting spots, mating rights, view points and numerous other seemingly mundane issues, strangely mirroring what is going on in the streets of the city below them. This large population of bats supports a relatively large colony of black kites (Milvus migrans) as well which can often be seen flying among the clouds of bats at dusk as they fly out to their feeding grounds. They can pick out a small and infirmed bat fairly easily, usually avoiding the healthy and bigger bats.

The one drawback of having fruit bats around is that the fruit takes a beating as it is fruit that they eat. It is not uncommon to find that if you want to eat a fresh mango you are going to have to share part of it with a fruit bat. Not that big of a deal unless of course the bat has had the whole night to eat that mango you were waiting to pick when it was just so. Then it can be aggravating. My bet is though, with all of the mangoes our forefathers planted on this campus, it will be a long time before we are forced to share every mango with a bat. Oh yes, we also have a small colony of black kites that have found nesting in our kapok grove a desirable spot for rearing their young and teaching them the delights of fresh fruit bat dinner while on the wing.

Tabaski and Christmas in Bouake

What has Tabaski and Christmas in common you ask? Nothing really in my opinion. Also the market here and the supermarket in Europe and the US don’t have much in common. It’s only that both holidays are close together this year. Yesterday, I drove through our sheep market. I have never seen so many sheep in one place in my life. Actually it’s a big empty place here in the City of Bouake, where cars drive through easily. Only the last few weeks it’s filled with thousands of sheep.

Wednesday, 19th December, uncountable lots of sheep are going to be sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins, here in Bouake and everywhere in the Muslim world. Tabaski or El-Eid is one of the biggest holidays in Islam. It’s to remember Abraham offering his son Ishmael on the alter and God provided a ram to be used for the sacrifice instead. While few in our surroundings will celebrate Christmas, Jesu’s Birthday, a few days later.

Rom. 6, 10: „The death he died, he died to sin once for all.“ Hebr. 7, 27: „He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.” John 1, 29 + 32: When John saw Jesus coming toward him he said: „Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him.“

How are we spending our Christmas season? Rod drove up to Korhogo for two weeks to teach at the Bible school. This week he has a module on Islam. He is coming back to Bouake, Dec. 22nd. Angelika stayed in Bouake to shop in the sheep market. No! She visited Mariam, a friend from church, whose husband converted to Islam, last year. This summer, a rival (a 2nd wife of her husband) moved in with a baby and a two year old girl. The small apartment got pretty tight for Mariam and her 3 children. Not only that. There are lots of problems in the Coulibaly family. Mariam does need a lot of prayer and encouragement out of God’s Word. Today, I visited another young lady from church who just delivered her 3rd child two weeks ago. A few days ago her husband died from an incurable disease. She also needs a lot of prayer and encouragement. Furthermore, I am encouraging Celine, a young girl of 19 years, who will get baptized with about 20 other young people. Celine is the only believer in her Muslim family. On Wednesday, she will help her mom preparing the Tabaski lamb. But Christmas and her baptism a few days later will not be celebrated in her family, not to mention to be noticed. That’s why a few friends of her are going to surprise her and I am going to help them with it.

“Hear the sound of the nations calling? Hear the sound of the fatherless crying? Who will go for us? Who will shout to the corners of the earth that Christ is King?”

(Israel Houghton – „We speak to Nations“©2001 Integrity’s Praise Music)

Wishing you a Merry Christmas

Joyeux Noel

Fröhliche Weihnachten

Rod and Angelika

Our Three Week Saga

Well it has been 6 weeks since leaving the land of round doorknobs, slow traffic and restaurants on every corner (the US for those who may not have had the “joy” of passing through that country). Since our return to Côte d'Ivoire we have made a trip to Parakou, Benin and part way back. And herein lays a story.

Breakdown – #1
Before leaving for Parakou 3 weeks ago, we had been to Korhogo twice to teach. All of this with a vehicle that was beginning to give us a few minor concerns but which seemed to be holding its own. On our way north through Burkina Faso we had a relatively uneventful trip until we hit the town of Boromo, halfway between Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouagadougou. It was about 17h00 when I noticed a gradual loss of power which very quickly became a total loss of power as the motor stopped all together. Our Toyota Hilux, having about 260.000 km on the odometer, seems to be a candidate for such events as we found out three weeks ago.

After getting towed back to Boromo, where we spent the night in a nice little hotel, we discovered the next morning that we had a faulty fuel pump. That may not sound like much if you are used to gasoline/petrol engines. Toyota engines in Africa are, for the most part, diesel/gasoil. To loose a fuel pump is not good. In the end we were able to get towed to Ouagadougou (over 175 km in the dark) by a crew that decided it would be better to be half drunk before leaving. As we flew down the dark highway with Alfa Blondie blaring into the night, I was thankful that we had had the insight to send Angelika on ahead on the bus that morning to Ouaga.

Replacing steel with Phillystrand:
After spending 2 days in Ouaga, we were able to get back on the road to Parakou on Monday the 12th. We arrived in Parakou without difficulty and spend two full weeks helping with the Trans-World Radio transmitter site doing a variety of things help them out. The main job for which we had come was to help put new guy cables on the tower which was already standing. This was a bit of a challenge as we hauled our poor old broken bones up and down the tower for 3 days attaching new cables to the tower and taking off the old lines. We were replacing steel cable with a product called “Phillystrand” which as we found is much lighter and relatively easy to work with. The re-guying of the tower went without a hitch and we finished well before we had to leave.

We were treated royally while there by South African friends, Garth and Fiona Kennedy, the project leader for the past several years. It was great to spend time with them as well, drinking tea, eating Marmite on bread and sweet chutneys on meat and other such things folks in South Africa do. I take my hat off to folks like the Kennedy’s. Although Garth could be a general contractor anywhere in the world and Fiona as a doctor could be raking in the cash at a hospital, they have chosen to spend several years in less than agreeable conditions, fighting malaria, typhoid fevers and the like, to serve in the installation of this transmitter site which will bring Christian programming back to the more remote areas of West Africa. Through this medium wave transmitter TWR along with SIM will be able to impact areas that until recently have had little or no Christian influence. It is also our hope that their presence in West Africa will be a big help to smaller stations like Radio Sinaï of Korhogo where we have been involved.

An amazing part of this part of the story is that when we arrived in Parakou the container with the Phillystrand had just cleared the port in Cotonou but it was still in Cotonou, half a day’s drive from Parakou. The container had been loaded on the train at the beginning of the week but it only arrived in Parakou the Sunday the 18th giving us just enough time to unpack and install the Phillystrand before having to leave.

It seems that God had those details all worked out. It also allowed us a little time to get to know the other engineers, Paul Cox (the new project leader) and Chuck (both with TWR) who have also contributed much of their time as well as Lazare, Souleymanne, Etienne, and some of the other guys from Benin helping with the project. It was an interesting 2 weeks during which time I learned a lot and gained an appreciation for what TWR and other Christian broadcasters are trying to do around the world.

Breakdown – #2
So it was with our useful contribution having come to an end, we asked for the road last Saturday and began our long return trip to Côte d'Ivoire. We made it to Ouaga without difficulty and the following day (Sunday) we began the last leg of our journey home. At 200 km out having just passed through Boromo, (this happens to be the very same town in which our fuel pump gave up the ghost!) I heard a noise which sounded ever so familiar. As soon as I heard it I knew that the crankshaft had broken. Looking at the engine we could see the fan belt pulley on the crankshaft wobble as we ran the engine. I knew that we were in trouble again. After making calls to Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouaga, we decided that it would be best to haul the truck back up the road to Ouaga where parts are more readily available.

Following several hours of dickering over a hauling price, we began the long road back to Ouagadougou about 3 meters behind a truck going at about 60 km/hr without brake lights to tell me when he was about to brake. As we were once again flying down the road behind this truck around which we could see nothing, trying to stay just behind him hoping that he wouldn’t swerve too quickly to avoid something we could not see and standing on the brake any time it felt as though he was about to slow down, I said to Angelika, “This is more exciting than a tandem skydive!” And I meant it when I said it. By the time we arrived at the garage we were nearly black from the poorly adjusted diesel motor of our tow truck. We would rather not think about what we were breathing.

The next morning after spending yet another night at the Nehlsen’s (director for Christian & Missionary Alliance of Burkina Faso, and an old classmate and colleague of mine) I went down to the garage to find my fears confirmed, the second broken crankshaft in less than four months. Needless to say I am less than impressed with our mechanic in Bouaké who assured me the last time that the crankshaft that he replaced was the correct one. So it is here when one does not have the time to do his own work. You only get what you get. This time we took the time to work through the replacement parts and match its numbers with those of the engine block. Of course I am still sitting here in Ouagadougou waiting to hear if the parts that we purchased are indeed the parts that will work.

How I really see it:
Now you may be thinking that this is a long string of bad luck which you would wish on no one. The fact of the matter is that we have been able to spend time with Steve and Amy Nehlsen that we would never have had had it not been for these breakdowns. We have been able to share our lives and our faith with our good friend Safiou who is still a Muslim after all these years. Although he is not practicing he has not to date been willing to follow Christ. While in Boromo I had several occasions to share with a young man who is involved in beekeeping and to encourage him and share ideas about how to modernize wisely. Boromo is also a town where one can at times see elephants in the vicinity which also makes it an interesting place to visit.

On our next visit we will find many good friends who have helped us in one way or another. The old man who loaned us his truck to haul us into Ouaga turns out to have lived for some time in Bouaké and knows several people with whom I am acquainted. All in all, our breakdowns, although we wish they had not happened, we can see how God just wanted us to spend a little more time in Boromo and in Ouaga than we had planned. We would like to be home just now but we are here and it would appear that it is the right place to be at this point. It has also allowed me the time to sit down and write down some of the stuff that has been going on just now. I guess that God really does know what he is doing. One last benefit of these difficulties is that we are looking at purchasing another vehicle in the near future so you can count on it, you will be hearing from this corner again!

I have been looking into another way to get to Bobo-Dioulasso and on to Côte d'Ivoire without having to pass through Boromo again! Of course, now that I have paid my dues the Boromo road spirits should be appeased and let us pass without any more trouble. With my luck though, I am probably going to be hit by and elephant!

We Bought the Farm!

Truth is a House!

For the first time in my life I am in dept up to my ears. Today Angelika and I signed a contract to purchase a house from my folks. With Thomas Moore, the lawyer hired to write up the contract as well as both mom and dad, we sat and read through the document which states that I am indebted to them until the house is paid for. This is a big step for the two of us who live in a cash society in Africa where this sort of a set-up is unheard of. The house that we purchased can be seen on Google if you do a search for: 163 NE Lincoln Ct. Hillsboro, OR 97124.

The second big step we took was to rent it out to a couple who has just returned to Oregon after a brief foray of two months to California. They were glad to find a place within their price range and such a nice place at that and we are thrilled to have renters from the first day that this house became our responsibility.

So it is that today we signed two contracts and have moved from being among those who mark on their tax returns that they own no home in the USA to those who mark that they do. We find ourselves among those who make regular contributions to the city and county for the better operation of things such as utilities, city centers, parks and office buildings. Who knows, maybe we are paying for stuff now that actually benefits us and those around us!

We Lost Some Friends

On the sad note, many of you may have heard the sad news concerning the crash of the Grand Caravan near White Pass, Washington at the beginning of this week. It was carrying 9 skydivers back to Shelton, Washington following the Caravan Boogie Star Skydiving Center of Star, Idaho. There were ten on board and as of yesterday searchers had found all of the victims of this tragic crash.

Knowing skydivers and having met some of these guys it is hard to imagine such a full loss. According to the reports that I have read, some authorities are asking if icing may not have been the cause of this crash. I would ask that you be in prayer for the families of these skydivers and the pilot. I know personally the owners of the plane and I have jumped with several of those who lost their lives in this accident. To loose so many in one accident of course has huge implications for their home drop zone in Snohomish, Washington. It will also impact the future operations of Kapowsin Air Sports in Shelton, Washington, the drop zone where this plane was based.

Planes are often rented from one DZ to another such as Farrington’s plane had been that weekend to the Star, Idaho for the “Caravan Boogie”. Unfortunately for the team from Snohomish and their families this accident ended the dreams and hopes of many at one time. Pray that those who are left would find their hope in God in the days and months to come. There are very few skydivers in my experience who would say that they are believers or followers of Jesus, which is just one more reason to pray for their families and friends. As one of the brothers of one of the guys lost in the accident said, “Skydivers form a tight bond with each other.” This tragedy is bound to have a significant impact on the entire family. My prayer is that it would cause many to ask what the purpose of life is, even when it is cut short as it has been for these great skydivers. As we say in skydiver, “All the best and Blue Skies!”

Some News Links:
Seattle Times Article
Victim Profiles
Seattlepi.com
FOX 11 AZ

Wilderness Wanderings

It has now been 3 and ½ months since we set foot on this nation’s soil and it would seem that it is now time to get out of here. It has been an interesting few months filled with visits, phone calls, meetings, trips, fuel stations, restaurants, rain storms and sunny days. We have put over 5000 miles on our little Nissan Sentra and it is still rolling. We have hiked into some of the most beautiful county in God’s creation both in the Mountain Lakes Wilderness area in southern Oregon and in the Sister’s Wilderness area of Central Oregon. We were able to taste some of the best huckleberries in the world (the ones just picked off of the bush which don’t make it to the can) and enjoy the sound of the forest away from the highways and mechanized world we live in.

I don’t think one can beat the feeling of getting up in the early morning in the mountains, starting the fire while brewing coffee and watching the valley floor stir to life as the sun creeps up over the eastern trees and hills. It’s at moments like these that one is reminded that we serve an awesome God who has given us so much. It also forces one to reflect on the responsibility that we must have before God for the way in which we treat this creation. I don’t suppose that there are many other spots in the world where one gets such a profound sense of how great this world we live in really is. My guess is that if we were to live in Michigan, Georgia or some flat place like that, we would have a harder time coming to such conclusions.

Besides having been profoundly impressed and blown away by douglas firs, hemlocks, sugar pines, mountain lakes, springs and mossy glades, I have also found several books very interesting in the past few months. The one that topped my list for interesting recently has been The Starfish and the Spider – the Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom. The basic idea is that, “If you cut off a spider’s head, it dies; but if you cut off a starfish’s leg, it grows a new one, and that leg can grow into an entirely new starfish. Traditional top-down organizations are like spiders, but starfish organizations are changing the face of business and the world.”

They go one to describe seven principles of decentralization in the first half of the book before trying to give meaning to the legs of a decentralized organization in the following section. They finish by pointing out that hybrid organizations might do better in situations where there is still need for a central clearing house approach to business, such as your bank or a flight program. One of the things that struck me in particular is the principle that a “starfish” organization finds its raison d’être in its ideology rather than in a strong leader at the top with a clear “vision”, such as it is, as with a spider organization. Wow! That has some serious ramifications. You gotta read the book!

Another book that I have been reading is Jared Diamond’s book, Collapse – How Societies choose to Fail or Succeed. Perhaps that is why I have been thinking about the beauty of Oregon so much recently. According to his tell (and one does need to take him with a grain of salt) we are not all that far from what could be the end of western societies as we have come to know them in recent history. Of course much of his discussion is centered around our use or poor use of natural resources that we have and the huge conflicts of interests that are played out in a single valley of the United States which are amplified a million times in other parts of the world with far more dyer consequences. He does a good job of pulling one’s head up and making one ask how he could be more conscientious in the use of the resources at his disposal. Of course as I read this stuff from the perspective of life in Africa it certainly has other implications that the average American may not pick-up on simply because the impact of global warming may not be as severe. That is not to say that there may not be implications but all indications are that the tropical parts of this world may be affected far more severely by global warming.

I have found it disturbing that more Christians do not give this issue much thought. It seems that global warming has become a “liberal” discussion point which simply means that we who follow Christ need not be concerned. I am concerned that the “labeling” of an issue like this has taken so many good thinking people out of the discussion. I guess I would hope that more of us would find the strength and courage to begin thinking about a more sustainable industrialized world. Walking the forest paths of Oregon, running down streams and swimming in pristine mountain lakes has moved me with a sense of our responsibility to take better care of this place.

Now before you write me off altogether, let me end these ramblings by making mention of another idea that has recently caught my fancy. I have been impressed by some of the articles one can find online concerning “missio dei” or the sending of God/mission of God. There is an excellent summary of this concept found on Wikipedia which I recommend. Mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God. God is a missionary God.

“It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the church. There is church because there is mission, not vice versa. The Church must not think its role is identical to the missio Dei; the Church is participating in the mission of God. The church's mission is a subset of a larger whole mission. That is, it is part of God's mission to the world and not the entirety of God's work in the world.”

“Our mission has not life of its own: only in the hands of the sending God can it truly be called mission. Not least since the missionary initiative comes from God alone … Mission is thereby seen as a movement from God to the world; the church is viewed as an instrument for that mission. There is church because there is mission, not vice versa. To participate in mission is to participate in the movement of God’s love toward people, since God is a fountain of sending love.”

Try wrapping your mind around that idea just a little. It has huge implications for us today. The reasons for the church’s existence have become fairly convoluted as the church and church organizations become more organized. This of course leads to a top down spider looking organism which no longer finds its life in an ideology but in its leader. When its leader falls the organization takes a hit and at times it is fatal. There is a foundational readjustment needed within the church to make the mission of God our raison d’être. This fundamental readjustment can make the difference between life or death of any given church. For too many years we have fought about the color of our floors, the songs that we sing, the clothes that we wear rather than the real reason that we get together in the first place.

The Wild and Crazy Month of May

The month of May came and went in a whirlwind which left me spinning. By the end of the month I had made three trips to Abidjan (5 hrs away), I had said goodbye to Angelika (as she flew off to Germany) and I had welcomed the 15th installment of the French LICORNE peacekeeping forces to our campus. Of course within the same month I tried to bring a close to a year of teaching at IBB (Bethel Bible Institute) in Korhogo (2,5 hrs away) and with the help of a great team from the US, put the roof on a church in the village of Dagba (at least 2 hrs away from Korhogo). All of that and I had papers to grade, packing to do, exams to write, and meetings to be at. In the end all got done or happened as it were and I find myself in Germany where I finally caught-up with Angelika!

One of the interesting things of note that happened the 3rd of June which in retrospect should have taken place at least 4 years ago, was a match between Côte d'Ivoire and Madagascar in the run off to the CAN (Africa Nations Cup) which took place in Bouaké. Our star player Didier Drogba was there along with the rest of the national team to trounce the Malagasy team 5-0! Of course it was a real celebration as for the first time since the beginning of the war we saw government troops along with the presidential guard sitting along side the former rebels cheering their team on for the win. It was exciting to see many faces in the stands who, since September 2002 have not set foot in Bouaké, there for the first time in five years to cheer on the national team. As one of the government officials said as they were leaving the stadium, “We Ivorians are made for celebration not for fighting, we do much better at dancing than shooting!” That was well said and we are praying that we will find more reasons for celebrating than for shooting.

Of course the roofing of a church is always a big thing in a village like Dagba. We were there for a little less than a week which meant early mornings and late afternoons. We worked solid from about 7h00 until 18h30 each evening. The team that came was composed of college guys all of which are in the middle of paying for school and looking for how to finish out their college years without too much dept. Not only did these guys raise the roof and the necessary funds for traveling to Côte d'Ivoire, but they also raised enough to roof the church again this year. That means that they raised $6000 extra each year to bring with them for roofing churches. Wow! And it was simply our job to welcome them and do a little organization and everything else happened just like that. Our national crew led by Nicodème was fantastic and they worked also like dogs to get the job done and safely. Our crane worked again lifting each truss without drop any on anyone which is always a good thing!

At the same time last month while I was with the crew in Dagba, Angelika was working with a couple of girls who had come to work with orphans. They had a great time painting and spending time with kids who otherwise have few distractions. Two American girls where an amazing distraction for them and we hope that through their time that the orphans were impacted with the love of Christ but also that the girls were impacted with the needs of kids in Africa.

All in all, I think that next year I am going to try to skip the month of May. Oh yea, I got a year older in May as well, another good reason to skip it next year!

Bonne Année 2007 !

As 2007 begins I thought that it would be reasonable that I write down a few reflections and notions concerning the year gone by and this year coming. First thing on my mind is to thank God that my father is now home and doing quite well for a 72 year old man who has been sliced open twice in the past 6 months by doctors trying to get him to feeling better. We have spoken several times on the phone with both him and my mother and it is good to hear they are doing well.

One big surprise over the holidays this year was to hear that my sister Carmel (Debbie), her husband Victor and their family flew back to the US for an early home assignment due to the failing health of Victor’s father. We were glad to hear that their field permitted an early departure due to family concerns. We are also glad for my folks who must be tickled pink to have more grand kids than expected at this time of year.

As for things in Côte d'Ivoire, they continue towards what we all hope will be a peaceful solution to the now, four and a half years of a divided country. As previously mentioned, we are now living under another UN resolution - 1721 which is more of the same and which has many people frustrated due to the constant ambiguity of the language used in calling for change. This resolution also calls for presidential elections this coming year in October, as has been the case for the past two years. In order for this to happen everyone agrees that there needs to be disarmament and a census taken which, will provide for open and fair elections. The rub comes in figuring out how to go about disarming and taking a census so that people can register to vote.

It sounds simple enough although in Côte d'Ivoire turning a rock over can be done a number of ways and with varied results, not to mention such a complicated affair as turning in weapons and getting one’s name on a list so as to be allowed to vote. The real solution is with the politicians who are still discussing from which side we should push to turn over the rock, not to mention how to deal with the results of a turned over rock! It leads one to believe in the end that most politicians must be half stoned any way and if not they probably need a good stoning! At times we wonder if they are even talking about the same rock!

Be that as it may, we have plans for this next year. At the Bouaké campus (former ICA) we are going to go forward as if there is a future. To put that dream in the ground we have an almond tree project under way even as I speak. We have about 70 almond trees in a nursery which we hope to plant in the next few months on campus. We have begun digging holes in which we will begin to put good soil to give our trees a fair chance at becoming mature and productive trees. Knowing very little about almond trees, I am going with the local advice I have been given which is to plant them no closer than 10 meters which leads me to believe that this is a tree of considerable size. Anyone out there who might have experience with the almond tree, please feel free to chime in with any advice you might have.

My major interest in planting almond trees however, is in with the flowers that will provide early foraging for my bees. Yes, we are still going after the bee deal. We have about 25 hives that are producing honey even as I write. I am excited about a project that we are hoping to get underway to provide each of our students at Bethel Bible Institute (IBB) in Korhogo with a hive, a bee hood and a smoker as well as instruction on how to produce quality honey. I am hoping to connect next week with an older man south of Korhogo who has received training in apiculture and who is willing to help us train the Bible school students. He is a believer and is excited about sharing his understanding with future pastors. Beekeeping is the kind of activity that is well adapted to rural village settings in northern Côte d'Ivoire and an activity which does not demand a lot of time and money to initiate and manage. The results are pretty good tasting too.

Of course we will continue our other activities of providing the best French military experience possible while hosting the Licorne Forces. We don’t have a lot to do with the guys staying on campus but we try to be as helpful and welcoming as possible. One of the realities of them being a long ways from family and home during the holidays is an openness which might not be true at other times and in other places. Keep us in mind as we play the role of being their hosts and also the caretakers of the campus which they have occupied while attempting to keep Côte d'Ivoire from degenerating into another Rwanda. I have begun meeting with four soldiers several times a week to help them with their English. We have had some interesting conversations. We hope to have them over soon for a meal where we can exchange on a more informal basis. Of course through all of this it is our hope that they will not only hear of Christ but that they will also see Christ through our lives.

As we enter into 2007 we will hope to continue working with our church in Bouaké and encouraging them to reach out to Muslims. There is and continues to be a certain resistance to sharing with Muslims concerning one’s faith. Many times it is simply because of a fear that in an honest discussion with a Muslim one may become convinced to follow Islam. This happens on occasion and is not an unreasonable concern. But as in so many areas of life, if one doesn’t dare to reach out, to do the unusual but to simply keep the status quo, nothing happens and nobody is challenged and no impact is made. Pray for us that we might be able to bring about change and impact this city through the lives that we touch. We do not want to settle for mediocrity when we serve a God who is anything but mediocre.

I continue to teach two days every two weeks at IBB as well as serving on several committees and boards of training institutions. All of that and the pressures of running the Bouaké campus can at times be overwhelming. Pray that I would find time to “smell the roses” and not get stung by the passing bee!

Continue to pray also for Angelika who is still very involved in women’s ministry through our churches in Bouaké and has numerous contacts with Muslim women in Bouaké. She and Abby Silué, one of the women from our church and good friend of ours, have been working faithfully together to edit Bible stories in Dioula (Jula) and telling them to several Muslim women. Pray for them as they walk the fine line of speaking the truth and not offending the sensibilities of those with whom they are sharing the truth of who God is and what He is like.

So it is that we enter into 2007 with hearts full of praise for the opportunities God places before us. We know that it is no simple thing to walk as Jesus walked but this is our prayer for ourselves as it is our prayer for those of you we know who might have taken the time to read this stuff. Bonne Année ! Que Dieu vous bénisse dans l’année 2007 !

Christmas Eve 2006

Written Christmas Eve, 2006 from Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire

I am sitting here in Bouaké reminiscing just a bit this morning about my dad. We received a call from my mother this morning saying that dad was admitted to the hospital and had emergency surgery to remove an inflamed gallbladder. As many of you know my father has been on a 6 month course of chemotherapy due to colon cancer. Apparently a few days ago he began feeling pain associated with this inflammation. At that time the doctor ordered a CAT scan to determine where the pain was coming from. Upon the discovery that the pain was coming from an inflamed gallbladder he was scheduled to have surgery on the 26th of this month. Yesterday however, he woke up with considerable pain and the doctors decided to operate immediately.

Of course we have been thinking and praying for him for some time now as we have been relatively concerned about this colon cancer. Several months ago dad was operated on to remove a tumor from his colon before beginning chemotherapy. As you can imagine we are not at ease about this most recent development and we are waiting to hear what the results might be from the test to be done on the tissues removed during the surgery. This morning on the phone mom said that according to the doctor the gallbladder looked “normal”, whatever “normal” must be, aside from the inflammation. I cannot for the life of me think about what could be “normal” looking about a gallbladder outside of the body and lying in some tray waiting testing.

The last time I saw dad was last January when we were in South Africa for a short vacation and research trip. We were staying with my younger brother John and his family in Kempton Park and had a great time with the folks who were down to help take care of kids at a WorldVenture conference which had been organized for its missionaries. Another bonus was that my sister and her family were also there for that same conference. With Carmel and Victor’s four kids and Jean and Carol’s as well, we were quite the crew. By the time we left South Africa the Madsen family and my folks were off to the WorldVenture conference.

Before leaving South Africa however, we dropped by at the conference to say goodbye to everyone and spent a couple of hours with mom and dad who, at the ages of 72 and 71 respectively, were in the middle of running after 3 and 4 year old missionary kids, trying to keep track of them as well as have a good time. I guess that when you see that kind of service at that age one can’t help but be impressed. I know that I was! All that to say that this was the last time we saw the folks as we left shortly afterwards to return to Côte d'Ivoire where we had other pressing matters to attend to.

As I think about all that has happened since that short and intense visit together with the Madsen family, my folks and John’s family I am amazed that it was ever possible to have been together at all last January. Since April, when Dad was diagnosed with colon cancer, he has had colon surgery in which he had a tumor removed that turned out to be cancerous and has, since then, been doing chemotherapy. Then in November John’s oldest, Jean Marc, had emergency brain surgery to remove an olive sized tumor which turned out to be benign for which we thank God. And now for dad the doctors have determined it necessary to remove his gallbladder post haste on the 22nd only three days before Christmas.

In all this we are thankful that my brother Ray and his family are still in the US where they can come to the aid of our mother during these difficult days. And so it is that during this time of so much family joy and fun we would ask that you think of my old man and our mother who, this year, will be spending it in hospital and most likely alone. It is not that they begrudge our being overseas at all. On the contrary, my folks and Ray and his family are amongst our most ardent and committed supporters in our efforts here in Côte d'Ivoire, the Madsen’s in Uganda and John and Carol’s in South Africa. But that makes life particularly difficult at times like these when we would rather all be together and with the folks rather than spread out all over Africa and North America.

I know that neither mom nor dad would want us to be concerned about them at this time, knowing that they are in the hands of a God who knows far better than we what we need for each day. Mom is a rock and I believe that she will do fine regardless of what happens. Even so, it is difficult to think of them alone at this time. As she wrote us in a note today, “Pray but do not worry. The Lord is with us and we trust Him completely.” At times it is hard to do as she says but we know that anything else is to multiply folly with folly because the Lord is forever in full control of all that comes our way. We don’t like it sometimes but as Job so well reminds us when he needed hope, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.” I know this is true today and we look so forward to that day when He will stand on the earth.

1633 to 1721

1633 to 1721

As of the end of October Côte d'Ivoire is supposed to have had a new president according to the UN Security Counsel’s Resolution 1633 which has been, until the end of last month, the ambiguously worded document which permitted the actual president to remain in place as the actual president even though Côte d'Ivoire has had a UN named Prime Minister since last year at this time. In the former UN Resolution, 1633, the powers of the acting president were “limited” and the powers of the Prime Minister were “beefed up”. Just what that meant and how it was to be applied was left ambiguous last year.

According to last year’s resolution we were supposed to be identified and disarmed so as to open the way for elections. There was a significant difference of opinion as to whether the disarming of the different fighting factions should happen before, during or after the identification process. On one side you had folks saying that if they disarmed then the president would not allow a fair and open identification process to go forward.

On the other side you had folks saying that if disarmament didn’t take place that the entire identification process would be faulty, having not been done before the proper state authorities, state appointed judges and the like. In the end some people were identified and some people were disarmed. Not enough of either happened however so as to allow us to have elections this last October.

That said and the UN Resolution 1633 re-visited has resulted in a new UN Resolution 1721. This new resolution is about the same as last years, again “limiting” the authority of the President and “beefing up” the powers of the Prime Minister. Apparently the language is still fairly ambiguous as seen by the different kinds of messages we have heard from both the President and the Prime Minister.

As with 1633 the new UN Resolution 1721 does not supersede the Ivorian Constitution. This has also been a hotly debated issue as it would seem to some that for the past several years the constitution has hindered significantly the peace process. Much to the surprise of certain observers, the United States supported the strong constitutional clause along with Russia and China. France and several others traditional allies of the United States on the Security counsel had hoped to see a change in this regard.

The President has of course been very positive in his accolade for the new 1721 Resolution, saying that he is going to take his responsibility seriously as indicated by the constitution, bring an end to the war and organize elections. Just how he intends to do that is what frightens many in the north of the country.

One needs to understand that some of those who have been the most belligerent in their refusal to disarm are pro‑government militias in the south as opposed to rebels in the north. These militias have been active in harassing and exacting tribute of all sorts from anyone who might seem opposed to the current regime. Of course it must also be said that with this kind of talk the rebels in the north are in no hurry to lay down their weapons.

The Prime Minister on the other hand, when he spoke last night, left us all thinking that if he does what he has said he will this next year there may be some difficulty between him and the President who continues to claim that as a dully elected president, although his term was over in October 2005. According to the President he will retain all of his authority as president as stipulated in the Ivorian Constitution. It would seem that we are somehow at an impasse.

That said we should note that some observers feel that this year is going to be much the same as last year. We will make little steps toward peace and elections. Due to the ambiguity in the language of the UN Resolution 1721 however, there will continue to be some very different interpretations of a text which, in trying to please everybody has really pleased nobody to the extent that everybody reads it simply the way he thinks it should be read which means that even though it pleases nobody it really pleases everybody. I have to take my hat off to the UN! They should call this art or something! I know I don’t understand it!

Excuses, excuses

So, what does one write after not having written for over 3 months? Maybe “Sorry” would be a good place to start. Excuses? You bet, I could start an entirely different blog listing those but I don’t think it would make for very interesting reading.

Since our last entry we have hosted at least three other major groups here at the school, besides the French Military who we continue to provide housing for due to the continuing unrest in the country. Our most recent event was just yesterday with the arrival of 30 young girls from our churches in Bouaké. They came out to greet Angelika and Tiémogo (another lady who along with Angelika has been a counselor to the young women in our church). Greeting can mean saying “hello” or it can be as involved as spending the afternoon and evening together eating and talking and just sort of hanging out. Yesterday the 30 girls were here for one of the latter types of greetings!

This meant feeding them and the Tiémogo gave them and excellent talk on how to depend on God for things such as a husband, work, schooling, etc. Tiémogo has been married for a little more than half a year and during this time she and her husband have not had the joy of living in the same city together. Her husband studies in Abidjan and she has been teaching in Bouaké. Through all of this and the difficulties this causes her and her family she has remained faithful first to God, our fellowship, and to her new husband. She has been an inspiration to these young girls as well as an encouragement to the rest of us who see life from a different perspective.

After Tiémogo shared with the girls her journey as a young woman and how God lead her to her man we took some the girls to the water tower (13 meters high) and had them rappel off the sides. We had a good time and the girls enjoyed getting out there beyond the comfort zones. It is always interesting to see who is willing to try and then what happens when they get up top. Nobody refused to go down the rope once they were on the top! Of course some went down more willingly than others but all went down. I use a safety rope for the descent as you can see from the photos. Our water tower is of course nothing compared to Smith Rocks in Central Oregon but it works. One has the definite notion from that height that a fall would kill you or at least break you up a bit. It is a great teaching tool on trust. Just what does it mean to have faith in God, in someone, or in something? It is a lesson that I am still learning and on some days not so well.

Of course the really big news since I last blogged my way onto the web was the passage of our national football team to the World Cup in Germany. We had a rare opportunity to travel to Germany and attend the Côte d’Ivoire – Holland game in Stuttgart. After flying all night we met up with friends from the US who brought us tickets for the game and we had a great time cheering and meeting other Ivoirian fans there for the game. It was a wild a crazy thing to do but who could miss such an opportunity. As we were tight on time we did not get out of southern Germany to see family in the north but we did get a chance to spend time with Jens and Silke, Angelika’s cousin who is himself a very big football fan. It was a wild few days traveling from venue to venue. One of the great things about this World Cup was that, regardless of the place of the match, there were giant screens setup in fan parks in all of the game cities where you could watch the games alongside hundreds of other fans. Perhaps the wildest party we attended was in Berlin alongside a million other German fans cheering for the Germany-? game. We saw the final matches in Côte d'Ivoire having returned before the end of the first round. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime kinds of experiences. It was great fun to be with friends and doing something like that together.

Hey, hope next time will be sooner than later, but then again, you may not! Tough, this is my blog!

Sepikaha Church Story

For the past two weeks we have been running up and down the road to Sepikaha, a village outside of Tafiré in northern Côte d'Ivoire with a crew of 6 young men from Bethel College in Indiana, USA and a seventh from Canada who joined the Bethel crew for this trip. The reason for this visit was to roof a chapel that has been sitting for close to 12 years waiting for a roof. This chapel was the 6th chapel that Sepikaha has seen since it built its first back in the early 60’s following a difficult beginning. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Sepikaha is how this fellowship began and why in the last two weeks we have been roofing a chapel this size.

Chloe (pronounced “klo”) began having eye problems as a young man. While working in the south of the country he began to loose his eyesight and returned to his home where he found that his aunt had received Christ while in Korhogo trying to take care of a daughter who had died from a short illness. He along with several others put their faith in Christ and began to study together the Word of God even though he was loosing his eyesight. Because of what they were learning they decided that they could no longer participate in the secret society called the “Poro” because of the idolatry involved. This refusal to belong to the poro angered many in the village who made threats against them and made life hard on this new band of believers. Through a series of events the government officials where eventually implicated in the attempts to pressure the new believers into participating in the poro. To the surprise of the poro supporters however, the representative of the government, after reviewing the case and a visit to Sepikaha, decided to support the Christians saying that the village was even blessed to have them present in Sepikaha.

During this time Chloe decided to attend the Bible School in Korhogo even though his eyesight was gone.
He had visited the hospital several times to try to reverse his failing eyesight but in the end he lost it altogether. While at Bible School he would study as the others but from memory. While others took note in class he listened and learned. He learned to find biblical passages by learning the thickness of the pages of the book. Chloe became one of the best evangelists in the region and after his time in Bible School he returned to the Tafiré region where he continued to lead this small group of believers in Sepikaha. Being blind Chloe would walk many kilometers to share the gospel and to teach the company of believers. Through his faithful teaching and the faithfulness of the other believers in Sepikaha the little group of believers grew in spite of the treats and mistreatment.

Through the years this group of believers had built 5 different meeting places and had out grown each of them. Their most recent chapel which we roofed had been built to accommodate 300 plus believers but they lacked the funds and the skill to roof the chapel. For several years they had been requesting help but with the recent changes in Côte d'Ivoire their request had been all but forgotten. Thankfully, when the crew from Bethel College asked about a building project through Bill Grudda, the WorldVenture ST coordinator for West Africa, Katiénéfoa Timothée, the president of the Association of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Côte d'Ivoire (AEBECI), remembered the plight of the fellowship in Sepikaha. Through a series of events, visits, much prayer and the faithful support of churches in the US, Canada and Germany, the Bethel crew arrived in Sepikaha the 3rd of May to raise the trusses into place.
As we raised the trusses the guys developed relationships with both members of the church in Sepikaha and other believes from Korhogo and Bouaké who had come to help in the construction and roof-raising. Every morning we woke up to breakfast prepared and brought to the home we were given for the time of our stay. We ate very well and there was always more than enough. It was a joy to see how involved the members of the church were as we raised trusses, tied them down and attached the metal sheets. Our home was actually the newly finished home of Chloe which he had finished a few days before our arrival. I was impressed and humbled to see the way the believers engaged themselves in the project. By the time we had finished roofing the 14 by 20 meter building we knew each other pretty well and we were pleased that no one was hurt. Lifting the 1.5 ton trusses was a bit of a challenge as well as raising and bringing down our home built crane. In the end we learned quite a bit about lifting heavy things up in the air and about how to do it safely. As with any project this size and crews this big, we struggled some with communication and illness. Thank God however, only a few were feeling down only part of the time which meant that we were mainly up most of the time, which when raising a roof is a good thing!

Thanks for your prayers and support during these past few weeks. We are trilled to have spent a few days with the Bethel Crew and to have been the liaison between them and the Sepikaha believers. Lot of work but the privilege was out of this world!

He is Risen!

Today is the big day! He is Risen, He is Risen indeed! This morning when we got up were just a little bit tired out from all of the activities leading up to this great day of Easter but as ever thankful for what it means to each of us to know that the King Lives!

Being into the kingdom building stuff let me give you a run down on our more recent activities. Angelika has been running flat out for a week preparing and helping teach girls at a retreat for young women which was held at our church over this weekend. The retreat was the first of its kind ever to have been hosted at our church in Bouaké and it was a hit! About 35 girls arrived from the surrounding region for two days of cooking, teaching, singing, drama, and all the other stuff young women like to do when they get together. Needless to say, my involvement was at a distance trying to support Angelika as she jumped into it with both feet. What a woman, that one! I couldn’t believe it when I saw her load up a stove and haul it into the church to teach the girls how to bake cakes and cookies. Now, you might think that I got some of the goodies; after all, it was my stove they took! No way! I think that the only thing I got out of the deal was a clean stove. Don’t be feeling sorry for me though, I really don’t need all that cake around here. Angelika was thinking about me after all!



While Angelika was busy with preparations for the girl’s retreat I have been busy cutting and welding steel to make a gin pole of sorts to help lift heavy trusses. This is in preparation for a church roofing project which some of you have been following in recent months. The church in question is in a village called Sepikaha which is north of Bouaké about two and a half hour’s drive north. Sepikaha has had walls built for over 10 years and they have been asking and waiting for technical help on how to build the trusses for their span and then lift them into place. We will be hosting a team of 8 young men who plan to arrive in Sepikaha the 2nd of May. We will work for two weeks and hope that within that time frame we will be able to get the trusses built, place them on the walls and put up the roof.

It sounds easy enough when you think in terms of cranes, rental lifts and building supply stores in every town. Our problem is that Sepikaha is a long way from a building supply store and it is impossible to rent a lift or a crane for raising trusses. Therefore I find myself cutting and welding steel these days with the hope that what I am building will be useful for many different church roofing projects. In the end what I am putting together will be a cross between a "pole derrick" and a "jinniwink" according to the US Army FM 5-125 chapter 5 "Lifting and Moving Equipment". I plan to mount an 8000 lbs truck winch (donated by a friend in Medford, Oregon for this purpose. Thanks loads Jim, it works great!) at the base for lifting purposes routed through a pulley at the top of an 8 meter long and 18 cm steel "I" beam pole. My counter balance is a 14cm steel "I" beam which will be chained to the 8 meter pole as well as guyed to a 5 ton in-line cable come-along. All in all I think it is going to be able to lift a fair amount and for a good while. The plan is to set it up next week and have the French military engineers look it over for problems and then try it out. I figure if it can lift the front end of one of their trucks we should be in business. No, I will not try it out on my truck first!

I hope to include some rudimentary drawings of my invention which might help you pray more intelligently for this fool and the gang that is coming out to work with him! Those of you who know the fool well know that this is one of those things that I get a kick out of. So far I have scrapped only one job but if I think and draw and plan any more I may start all over again. After last week and the sore muscles I am hoping that this plan is for good.


Oh yes, I have now over 10 bee hives with colonies in them and they are getting active this time of year. The other day the Catholic sisters from down the road were by and they asked if they could purchase two of our hives. They have had some more colonies move in and apparently need more place for them. They have agreed to trade wax foundations for the hives which will be great for me having started to mess around a bit with the European style hives. I have certainly enjoyed the hood and smoker I got from South Africa. They are so much better than the stuff we were using. It is reassuring to know that no matter how angry the bees get they just can’t get to you. Of course anyone else in the vicinity not so well protected can get the ride of their life if they are not careful. So it is with the bees.

South Africa and Back Again

Today finds me sitting in the Java House in the Nairobi airport in Kenya waiting for our flight on across the continent and back to Abidjan. We have just spent 3 weeks in Johannesburg with family. We had the rare and exciting possibility be with my younger brother John and Carol his wife for the duration. They hosted not only us but my sister Carmel and Victor Madsen, her husband, and their four kids as well as my folks, who had flown down from Uganda where Victor and Camel serve with WorldVenture. John and Carol work with Trans-World Radio serving in Johannesburg.

We had all come to South Africa for different reasons but found time enough to spend a few days doing stuff together and sharing. It was a rich time marred only by the absence of my younger brother Ray and family who has a normal job in the Bend, Oregon and felt, reasonably so, that a trip of that magnitude for his whole family might well be his financial ruin! Of course we did not dwell on this and had a good time anyway!

We should explain however that this trip to the southern part of the continent was not entirely vacation and fun. I spent several days at TWR headquarters working on radio related questions to enhance our programming in northern Côte d'Ivoire as well as other local FM stations in West Africa. I also worked with a couple of engineers looking into how to better install radio towers in the future. TWR has asked that I help them with the installation of some of the medium and short wave towers in Parakou, Benin in the future. This is where TWR has installed a transmitter site and they are hoping to get authorization to move forward with a short wave installation within the next few months.

Another thing that occupied our time and thinking while in South Africa was the question of what to do with the ICA campus. If it does not interest the mission community as a boarding school we need to think of other options and wove forward. While in South Africa we were able to make some good contacts and pickup some interesting ideas that we may pursue in the near future.

We were also able to work some more on the French version of Battle for the Hearts which should be finished up within the next few weeks according to the executive producer, my brother John! We are certain looking forward to this release. In our opinion the French version is far more interesting than the English version is, especially with regards to our context in Côte d'Ivoire. At the same time I was able to get some pointers from Michael Comse, the camera expert for the Battle for the Hearts, concerning future filming possibilities with some of our church theatre troupes that would like to put together stories. Ambitious sounding it is but if you don’t dare to try you will never do anything.

One other topic that occupied my thinking and my pocket book were some professional South African fabricated bee supplies. I was able to get a great little smoker and some good face and neck protection. I made contact with a fabricator of wax foundations who could be a supplier in the future as we have no way of making our own foundations… yet! This contact that I made also informed me about a reality that I was sort of aware of but he confirmed my thinking. Africa has about 11 different species of bees. The sort that we encounter in West Africa makes a smaller cell for the larva and food storage. This being the case, foundations made with the European and North American bee species in mind are too large. I always knew Americans liked big cars and big houses but I had no idea that the bees in the States have the same tendency!

Of course you may be wondering why this foray into beekeeping. As I stated in an earlier blog, bees are an insect that is very industrious and in West Africa they are particularly so. Beekeeping is an under-developed industry in our part of the world. As I have previously stated, I am working closely with a guy from our church trying to develop better ways and means of working with the bees we find here. We have recently fabricated about 30 hives of different sorts which we will be trying to populate and then harvest next year. I am hoping to use beekeeping to give young men and women in our part of the world a supplement to their normal income. One of my dreams is to get the young men and women who are at Bethel Bible Institute trained and setup with an initial hive with which they might supplement their income made bring some sweetness to the life of the churches they lead. I am also working with young Dioulas, trying to get them setup and helping them to understand the importance of honey production as an alternate occupation.

While we were in South Africa we received word that a friend and colleague of ours, Kayleen Merry (Slater), passed away after a long battle with leukemia. Steve and Kayleen Merry had been with WorldVenture at our hospital in Ferké where Steve had hoped to begin a training program for doctors. At the beginning of the war they were evacuated along with their 5 children. They re-located in Togo serving at a hospital there until they returned to the US for their home assignment. While in the US they learned of Kayleen’s leukemia. They began treatment during which time Steve was asked to work at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Due to this change and Kayleen’s illness they had resigned from WorldVenture in January of 2005.

Kayleen’s home going is a blow to many us around the world who had been praying for her healing. Kayleen was the daughter of Dwight and Barb Slater one of several families who have played an essential role in the beginning and continuing ministry of the Hospital in Ferké. All but one of Kayleen’s 5 siblings has been in full-time ministry in Africa at one time or another. The Slater connection to world missions is a strong one and her loss impacts many around the world. No one is as affected however as deeply as her 5 children and her husband Steve. Please pray for them when you think of it.

Steve and the family have setup a memorial fund to help support doctors at the Baptist Mission Hospital in Ferkessédougou. You may send your check with a note or memo stating the target of your gift to WorldVenture, 1501 W. Mineral Ave., Littleton, CO 80120-5612 or go on-line at https://worldventure.com and follow the links for on-line giving. If you would please enter "Kayleen Merry Memorial Fund" on the line beside the 4th option for giving ("other"). Gifts given to the fund are 100% tax deductible.

Thank you in advance for your prayers for Steve and family. It is hard to imagine anything quite as hard to understand as why God would take a young mother and wife from a family of five young children like this. Trite can be our answers to such devastation and they often ring false. Perhaps Isaiah says it best when he asks the question, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.”

Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention that while in South Africa I was also able to help my brother John setup a model train track table. We had a good time fabricating a table that swings on pulleys from the roof of his garage. This way he can park his car in the garage when he is not playing with his train set. Needless to say, his car didn’t see much of the garage while we were there! With nieces and nephews running about for a few days there it was a fun project to work on. Like all toys for children however, the question as to who had more fun with the train set is still up for debate! For those who want to know the table is simply two pieces of plywood put side by side with a hole cut in the middle so that you can reach all sides of the tack, villages, hills, rivers, stations, roads, and all that jazz. Obviously we had a good time.

ICA Reflections

by Braden Mugg, ICA Grad 2001

I must say that it was odd to come back and visit Cote d’Ivoire and ICA after having been gone for almost five years. Although the places that I knew as a child have remained very much the same, almost all of the people that I knew in those days are gone. Surprisingly, even with all of the changes, I was particularly struck by how much my visit reminded me of the time I spent here and the people I knew.
I was particularly struck by the changes in the country itself. In the rebel controlled North traffic has slowed to a trickle under the pressure of the rebels whose main source of income seems to be extorting money from travelers. The people here speak of a hard life where jobs are in short supply and the future is unpredictable. The overall climate, however, remains surprisingly hopeful and peaceful as people go about making the best of a bad situation.
It is interesting to note the many ways that ICA has changed in its current incarnation as a military base. Although the infrastructure remains very much the same, the campus now prominently displays barbed wire, spotlights, and fortified defensive positions. Basketball courts where children once played have become parking lots for armored vehicles. Perhaps the change is most visible at meal times when the voices of grown men fill the cafeteria that once resonated with the joyful cries of children.
The strongest tie to the past is the workforce many of whom speak fondly of the days when there was peace in Côte d'Ivoire and ICA was a school. It was especially interesting for me to see that Joseph and Thomas both of whom worked in Beth Eden when I lived there are still here. It was fun to bring them and others news of students they had known years ago.
Coming back to Côte d'Ivoire and ICA brought back a flood of memories from a childhood that I had more or less lost. Therein lies the importance of my trip for me. Although the people I had known long ago are gone and the places have changed, during my stay here I felt more strongly connected to them then I have in years. In spite of the fact that these memories and connections will probably slip away as quickly as they returned, it was nice to have one last chance to say goodbye to the world of my childhood.